Effect of age and gender in rates of achieving minimal clinically important difference and patient-acceptable symptom state 2 years after arthroscopic superior capsular reconstruction.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and the effects of gender and age on achieving clinically significant outcomes in patients undergoing arthroscopic superior capsular reconstruction (ASCR) with a minimum 2-year follow-up.

METHODS: Patients undergoing ASCR for irreparable rotator cuff tear between 2013 and 2020 were reviewed. Preoperative and minimum 2-year postoperative PROMs were collected, including American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES), Constant, single assessment numeric evaluation (SANE), and visual analog scale (VAS) scores. Minimal clinically important difference (MCID) and patient-acceptable symptomatic state (PASS) were calculated for each functional score and analyzed according to age and gender. The percentages of patients achieving MCID and PASS were recorded.

RESULTS: The study included 83 patients, with a mean follow-up of 3.5 ± 1.4 years. Significant improvements were found in ASES, Constant, SANE, and VAS for all groups based on gender and age. Based on receiver-operating characteristic curves, all scores had acceptable areas under the curve for PASS. Values for PASS and MCID were 81.5 and 10.3 for ASES; 61.5 and 6.2 for Constant; 82.5 and 11.5 for SANE and 1.5 and 1.1 for VAS, respectively. Analysis of achieving MCID and PASS showed no difference between the groups in the majority of outcome measures. However, female patients achieved the SANE thresholds for PASS at significantly higher rates than male patients. Patients ≥65 years old achieved ASES and Constant thresholds for MCID at significantly higher rates than patients ˂65 years old.

CONCLUSION: Most patients achieved MCID and PASS at a 2-year follow-up. Patients showed comparable rates of MCID and PASS achievement on most outcome tools based on age and gender. Female patients achieved PASS on SANE at significantly higher rates than male patients and older patients achieved MCID on ASES and Constant at higher rates than young patients. Thus, age is a stronger factor for achieving MCID than gender.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II.